1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic appliance, and more particularly, to a hinge assembly for an electronic appliance capable of adjusting a tilt angle and a swivel angle of the electronic appliance and a stand apparatus having the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, an electronic appliance such as a television or computer monitor is provided with a stand apparatus. The stand apparatus is connected to the electronic appliance to allow the electronic appliance to be supported on a ground or wall surface at various angles.
A hinge assembly capable of adjusting an angle of an electronic appliance is installed to the stand apparatus. The hinge assembly is connected to a main body of the electronic appliance, e.g., to a display unit of a monitor, to adjust a tilt angle of the display unit. At this time, the hinge assembly is provided with a bracket which in turn is connected to the main body of the electronic appliance. The hinge assembly is generally made of a synthetic resin material using a die casting process.
The hinge assembly is covered with a hinge cover. The hinge cover is fixed to a base plate supported on the ground surface or the like while covering the hinge assembly. The hinge cover shields a portion of the hinge assembly to beautify an external appearance of the electronic appliance.
However, there are the following problems in the aforementioned related art.
If the size of a liquid crystal display (LCD) is increased even though the LCD is small in size and light in weight as compared to a cathode-ray tube (CRT) display, e.g. if an LCD monitor or television has a size of at least 23 inches, the weight of the main body makes it difficult to implement a hinge assembly capable of adjusting both a tilt angle and a swivel angle of the LCD. In other words, the hinge assembly allows a user to relatively easily adjust the tilt angle of the main body. However, there is inconvenience in that the main body including the hinge assembly should be moved rightward or leftward as a whole in order to turn the LCD in a right and left direction.
Further, the die casting process used in manufacturing the hinge assembly has higher manufacturing costs and lower working efficiency as compared to a pressing process. In addition, the strength of the hinge assembly manufactured by the die casting process is lower than that of the hinge assembly manufactured by the pressing process.
In addition, the packaging volume should be generally minimized for transportation convenience of economic efficiency when the electronic appliance is packaged and transported. However, the hinge assembly cannot be folded by an angle no less than a predetermined angle due to the presence of the hinge cover. That is, if the main body is pushed backward by an angle no less than the predetermined angle, one side of the bracket comes into contact with an upper end of the hinge cover and thus the main body cannot be folded any more. Accordingly, there is a problem in that the packaging volume of the electronic appliance is also increased.